LISA LOW SEOW WEI

THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE

IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

LISA LOW SEOW WEI

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

THE DEVELOPMENT OF KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE

IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

LISA LOW SEOW WEI

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Master of Science (Facilities Management)

Faculty of Geoinformation Science and Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

JANUARI 2007

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DEDICATION

I have an amazing family who has supported every single

decision I have undertaken for the past 23 years.

Thanks to beloved Mummy, Daddy,

Lilian, Leslie and Lester

And special thanks go to Yong Be Wee,

who was behind me all the way

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Associate Prof Dr Hakim bin Mohammed, my supervisor, has the two most

favored attributes of a supervisor that is patience and responsiveness which is the

most significant research support.

Many thanks go to Associate Prof Dr Buang bin Alias, Dr Hishamuddin bin

Mohd Ali and Associate Prof Dzulkanain for initial assessment and whom astute

comments and belief in this research that keep me energized and encouraged.

To the entire list of interviewees that is included with these

acknowledgements, I thank you for your time, patience and ideas: Anthony Tang,

Bertha Yong K. Y., Benjamin Hii H. T., David Hii C. K., Francis Kho, James Yong

L. Y., Joseph Ting K. S., Lawrence Law S. H., Ling Hion Ming, Madam Ling,

Robert Ting K. H., Shanen Sia S. H., Ting Chii Hua, Toh Ji Sheng and Yong Lei

Kiong.

Other people I need to single out for thanks in terms of direct help with this

dissertation include Professor Rosdi bin Abdul Rahman, Dr Nopiah, Encik Shabudin,

Encik Robiah, and Mr Patrick Yeo.

And to all my friends who understood when I did not answer the phone and

disappeared for months: Thank you very much. To Chin Sze Nee thanks for the

ongoing moral supports and companionship. To Karen Lum, thank you for helping

me at very crucial time during this research process; in addition being an amazing

friend. And to Choong Weng Wai, thank you for being informative.

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ABSTRACT

This research aims to identify the determinants that promote the development of knowledge sharing culture in the construction industry. The construction industry is, unlike any other industries, which have hidden reservoirs of intelligence that remain largely untapped and unionized. Construction sector is fragmented and characterized by small and medium size organizations shall accommodate an interesting avenue for tapping into this hidden asset to capitalize on what collective organizations concern. Right organization characteristics along with right work practices are conducive to knowledge sharing which in turn influence the employees’ behaviour. Consequently, there are four objectives of this study. First objective is to identify the practices for factors that promote the development of knowledge sharing culture. Second objective is to identify the preferred practices for each factor that promotes the development of knowledge sharing culture. Third objective is to investigate the relationship between the factors and the development of knowledge sharing culture. And finally, to investigate the relationship between the practices and the development of knowledge sharing culture. For the purpose of this study, six units of construction organizations in Sarawak are investigated through two major approaches which comprised of case study and questionnaire survey. Descriptive analysis, frequency analysis and one-sample t test analysis are applied to analyze the factors, practices and their significant relationship in promoting knowledge sharing culture. From the literature review, eight factors and 51 practices are identified as the determinants that promote the development of knowledge sharing culture. These factors and practices are verified through the case study interviews. Some 34 practices out of 51 practices being surveyed are identified as the preferred practices which act as promoters of knowledge sharing culture. The result of one-sample t test shows that the factor of strategy, structure, support mechanism, management development, communication, trust, motivation, learning and all the 51 identified practices are the contributing determinants that promote the development of knowledge sharing culture.

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ABSTRAK

Penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti faktor-faktor yang membantu pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu dalam industri pembinaan. Industri pembinaan tidak sama dengan industri lain yang mana terdapat ilmu pengetahuan tersembunyi yang masih belum disatukan untuk mencapai kegunaan berfaedah. Sektor pembinaan itu terpecah dan terdiri daripada organisasi bersaiz kecil dan sederhana memberi pendekatan menarik untuk menjadikan aset tersembunyi ini bermanfaat lalu mempergunakannya bersama organisasi. Keadaan organisasi yang sesuai bersama dengan amalan kerja yang baik membawa kepada perkongsian ilmu yang mana mempengaruhi sikap pekerja. Objektif pertama kajian ini, untuk mengenalpasti amalan kerja bagi faktor yang membantu pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu. Objektif kedua untuk mengenalpasti amalan kerja yang diutamakan bagi setiap faktor yang membantu pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu. Objektif ketiga pula, untuk menyelidik hubungan antara faktor dan pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu. Akhir sekali untuk menyelidik hubungan antara amalan kerja dan pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu. Untuk tujuan penyelidikan, enam firma pembinaan di Sarawak telah dikaji melalui dua pendekatan iaitu kes kajian bersama borang soal selidik. Analisis deskriptif, frekuensi dan one-sample t test telah diaplikasi untuk menganalisis faktor, amalan kerja dan kepentingan hubungan dalam pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu. Hasil daripada kajian literatur, lapan faktor dan 51 amalan kerja telah dikenalpasti sebagai faktor dan amalan kerja bagi faktor yang membantu pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu. Sebanyak 34 daripada 51 amalan kerja yang dikaji telah dikenalpasti sebagai amalan kerja yang diutamakan yang mana bertindak sebagai penentu budaya perkongsian ilmu. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahawa faktor strategi, struktur, mekanisme sokongan, pembangunan pengurusan, komunikasi, kepercayaan, motivasi, pembelajaran dan kesemua 51 amalan kerja yang telah dikenalpasti adalah penentu yang menyumbang kepada pembangunan budaya perkongsian ilmu.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

FRONTPAGE i

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xii

LIST OF FIGURES xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES xv

1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Introduction to the Research Field 1

1.3 Problem Statement 5

1.4 Research Objectives 11

1.5 Research Methodology 12

1.6 Scope and Limitations 12

1.7 Research Justification 13

1.8 Structure of Chapter Outline 15

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2 KNOWLEDGE SHARING CULTURE THEORIES

AND OVERVIEW

2.1 Introduction 16

2.2 Knowledge Perceptions 16

2.2.1 Knowledge 17

2.2.2. Explicit Knowledge 18

2.2.3 Tacit Knowledge 19

2.2.4 Cultural Knowledge 20

2.3 Knowledge Management 22

2.4 Knowledge Sharing Culture 25

2.5 Factors and Practices that Promote 28

Knowledge Sharing Culture

2.5.1 Strategy 35

2.5.2 Structure 39

2.5.3 Support Mechanism 43

2.5.4 Management Development 48

2.5.5 Communication 51

2.5.6 Trust 55

2.5.7 Motivation 58

2.5.8 Learning 62

2.6 Summary 66

3 METHODOLOGY STRUCTURE

3.1 Introduction 68

3.2 Research Methodology and Research Objectives 69

3.2.1 Objective One 69

3.2.2 Objective Two 70

3.2.3 Objective Three 70

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3 METHODOLOGY STRUCTURE

3.2.4 Objective Four 71

3.3 Survey Methodology 72

3.3.1 Survey Methods Review 72

3.3.2 Rational of the Survey Method 74

3.4 Research Procedures 75

3.4.1 Phase I: Background Study 75

3.4.1.1 Literature Review 75

3.4.1.2 Key Informants Interview 76

3.4.2 Phase II: Conceptual Framework 76

Development

3.4.2.1 Development of Conceptual 77

Framework

3.4.3 Phase III: Field Study 78

3.4.3.1 Case Study 78

3.4.3.2 Questionnaire 80

3.4.4 Phase IV: Data Analysis 82

3.4.4.1 Descriptive Analysis 83

3.4.4.2 Frequency Analysis 83

3.4.4.3 One-Sample t Test 85

3.4.5 Phase V: Conclusion and Suggestion 87

3.5 Summary 88

4 DATA ANALYSIS, RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction 89

4.2 Case Study 90

4.2.1 Kiong Hing Construction Company 90

4.2.2 Sendayan Realty Sdn Bhd 91

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4 DATA ANALYSIS, RESULT AND DISCUSSION

4.2.3 Joseph Design & Contract Sdn Bhd 93

4.2.4 Hock Peng Realty Sdn Bhd 94

4.2.5 Leong Hin Construction Company 95

4.2.6 Soon Hup Construction Company 96

(SHCC) Holding Sdn Bhd

4.3 Descriptive Analysis 98

4.4 Frequency Analysis 107

4.4.1 Strategy 114

4.4.2 Structure 115




4.4.6 Trust 121

4.4.7 Motivation 123

4.4.8 Learning 124

4.5 One-Sample t Test Analysis 126

4.6 Discussion 135

4.6.1 Strategy 135

4.6.2 Structure 138




4.6.6 Trust 149

4.6.7 Motivation 151

4.6.8 Learning 153

4.7 Summary 156

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5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 Introduction 157

5.2 Findings 157

5.2.1 Objective One 158

5.2.2 Objective Two 159

5.2.3 Objective Three 160

5.2.4 Objective Four 160

5.3 Conclusions 161

5.4 Research Limitations 164

5.5 Further Research 165

REFERRENCE 167

APPENDICES 179 - 209

xii

LIST OF TABLES

NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Factors and practices for each factor that promote the 29

development of knowledge sharing culture

3.1 Procedural flows of the research 75

3.2 Factors that promote the development of knowledge sharing 77

culture

3.3 Series of themes for interviews 79

3.4 Five grade scale used in combination with questions and 81

assertions

4.1 Summary of knowledge sharing practice cultivated in six 101

interviewed organizations

4.2 Summary of responses for knowledge sharing practice by 107

the level of agreement

4.3 Index determinants for variables being studied 109

4.4 Category of the preferred practices according to the 110

compose index

4.5 Category of the recommended practices according to the 112

compose index

4.6 Mean value in a decreasing form for knowledge sharing 114

practice under the strategy factor


practice under the structure factor


practice under the support mechanism factor

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practice under the management development factor


practice under the communicator factor


practice under the trust factor


practice under the motivation factor


practice under the learning factor

4.14 Mean value in a decreasing form, standard deviation, standard 126

error mean for the factors that promote the development of

knowledge sharing culture

4.15 Mean value in a decreasing form, standard deviation, standard 127

error mean for the practices that promote the development of

knowledge sharing culture

4.16 t value in a decreasing form for the factors that promote the 129


4.17 t value in a decreasing form for the practices that promote the 129


xiv

LIST OF FIGURES

NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Knowledge perceptions 17

2.2 Three essential components of knowledge management 24

2.3 Knowledge Sharing Model 27

2.4 Determinants that promote knowledge sharing culture 67

3.1 Procedural flows of research methodology 88

4.1 Organization chart of Kiong Hing Construction Company 91

4.2 Organization chart of Sendayan Realty Sdn Bhd 92

4.3 Organization chart of Joseph Design and Contract Sdn Bhd 93

4.4 Organization chart of Hock Peng Realty Sdn Bhd 94

4.5 Organization chart of Leong Hin Construction Company 96

4.6 Organization chart of Soon Hup Holdings Sdn Bhd 97

4.7 The practice of empowerment cultivated by the case studies 103

4.8 The practice of decision making cultivated by the case studies 103

4.9 The practice of intranet cultivated by the case studies 104

4.10 The practice of video conferencing cultivated by the case studies 104

4.11 The practice of telephone conference cultivated by the case studies 104

4.12 The practice of CAD software cultivated by the case studies 105

4.13 The practice of award programmed cultivated by the case studies 105

xv

APPENDICES

NO TITLE PAGE

A Interview Questions 179

B Questionnaire 180

C T Distribution Table 186

D SPSS Analysis 187

E Quality Issue 208

CHAPTER 1

BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1.1 Introduction This chapter summarizes the context of this study through a general introduction

of knowledge management and knowledge sharing culture for the support of knowledge

management life cycle. The discussion begins with the background of knowledge

management including their function to support business operation in the organizations.

The critical issues of knowledge sharing culture in the construction industry are

emphasized in the problem statement. Then, the research objectives, research

methodology, scope and limitations and research justification are addressed. Finally,

this chapter provides a brief chapter outline of this dissertation.

1.2 Introduction to the Research Field During the 1980s, downsizing was organizations most popular strategy to reduce

overhead and increased profits (Forbes, 1997, P. 28). However, the danger for

organizations with high turnover rates resulted in a risk of losing important and valuable

knowledge, as employees left and took the knowledge that they had accumulated over

the years with them (Piggott, 1997, P. 169). With time, organizations had come to

recognize that they had lost years of valuable information and expertise and were now

determined to protect themselves against a recurrence (DiMattia and Oder, 1997, P. 33).

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As more and more of what is valuable reside in the heads of people,

organizations are becoming aware that if people leave, the value leaves too. These extra

values are generated through knowledge worker’s ideas, analysis, judgment, synthesis

and designs (Frances., 1999, P. 78). Since knowledge workers are able to play certain

roles in the organization structure and address organization challenges with their

knowledge and experience; therefore they are of great and growing demand in the

market.

In the 1990s, the impacts of globalization on economy put pressure on

organizations to increase adaptability, innovation, and process speed. This is because

with globalization, knowledge is increasingly available to everyone (Harari, 1997, P.

35). Schultz and Kitchen (2000, P. 101) described that globalization derived because of

data transfer that allows knowledge to be easily and quickly distributed around the

world. In this context, knowledge has become the most crucial component in the

struggle for competitiveness (Richter and Vettel, 1995, P. 39). According to Svenja et

al. (2003, P. 78), the new economy can be defined as congealed knowledge which means

that the faster ideas transfer into business value, the greater the competitive advantage

that can be preserved.

As reiterated by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed (2000), “knowledge economy is all

about learning. As long as we are prepared to keep learning from each other and from

the world, the knowledge economy should be a piece of cake and an ever expanding

one,” (The Sun, 6th September, 2000, P. 3). So, learning itself had become not the input,

but part of the output. To survive in the knowledge economy, organizations need to do

better tomorrow than yesterday and constantly be on the lookout on how to correct and

prevent problems in business processes; in order to make continuous improvement to

achieve business sustainability.

As a result, management undertakes knowledge management strategy in an effort

to store and retain employees’ knowledge for the future benefit of the organization

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(Forbes, 1997, P. 28). Knowledge management is a discipline used to systematically

leverage expertise and information to improve organizational efficiency, responsiveness,

competitiveness and innovation as described by Tkach (1999, P. 5). Knowledge

management is the combination of management awareness, attitude, practices, systems,

tools and techniques designed to release the power of knowledge in a particular

organization (McDonald, 1999, P. 67).

Knowledge management appeals to all working adults who operate in the

knowledge economy. No one is exempted because everyone must use information,

whether to evaluate internal or external dynamic information flows. Knowledge

management makes sense to first organize what people know as a division and then to

share it, which leads to a whole host of cultural issues. This is because knowledge

management highlights the importance of a sharing culture in order to support and foster

knowledge management focus (Alavi, 1999; Davenport and Prusak, 1998, P. 48).

Knowledge management focuses on ways of sharing and storing the knowledge of

individual, as a mean of improving organization’s competency, speed, efficiency and

profitability of a larger whole.

Since wealth creation is in people’s minds rather than in their hands;

organization will depend not only on workflow management but on enticing each

employee’s best idea, judgment and effort. Besides that, as stated by McDermott and

O’Dell (2001, P. 81), “however strong your commitment and approach to knowledge

management, your culture is stronger.” To stimulate and motivate people to be

productive in the contribution to a knowledge oriented culture, managers must create,

manage and improve organization knowledge environment. This is because it would be

meaningless to have strategic knowledge management systems if not actualized in

practice. Practices are the most visible symbol of culture, and they provide the most

direct way for changing behaviours needed to support knowledge. New behaviours

resulting from new practices will change norms over time, which will provide long term

support for more effective knowledge use.

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Organizations that are keen to share, exchange and generate knowledge must

have a culture that is aligned with the values that make such open transfer possible. This

is because knowledge mobilization depends upon an organization culture that promotes

overlapping behaviours such as information sharing and joint experimentation (Swan et

al., 2000, P. 99). For organizations to change to a knowledge sharing culture; often it is

slow and at times difficult. It will cause disorientation and disruption because people are

used to working in a certain way, within a certain organization and using certain tools.

Consequently, the case of culture, by contrast, is more problematic. As

described by Svenja et al. (2003, P. 78) “the most difficult but also the most important

facilitating condition seems to be the culture, which is not only necessary but is essential

to providing the trust among the actual knowledge workers to collaborate effectively.”

Organization culture can affect both the scope and the content of knowledge transfer.

Cultural barriers to sharing knowledge exist in the absence of elements of organization

culture that would legitimize or support such sharing.

To promote better knowledge sharing culture, organizations should foster

awareness that the value of knowledge is a relative matter. This is because people do

not automatically pass their knowledge on to others; there are individual barriers which

make people less willing or less able to do so. Employees usually regard certain areas of

their personal knowledge as part of their power base within the organization, or as their

private business. According to Gilbert (2000, P. 173) barriers at individual level are of

two kinds: those affecting the ability to share knowledge, and those affecting the will to

do so. In both cases, willingness to share knowledge is limited.

The ability to share knowledge depends primarily on the individual’s talent to

communicate and his or her social behaviour. Knowledge assets may not be passed on

because individuals are not able to describe and communicate them (Nonaka, 1995, P.

65). On the other hand, willingness is influenced by many factors. Pride in the

ownership of one’s own expert knowledge may play an important part. Lack of time

5

resulting from real or imagined informational overload can also reduce preparedness to

take part in knowledge sharing activities. Finally, employees often fear that if they pass

their knowledge to others, they will endanger their own position in the organization.

This happen mainly in strongly politicized organization where knowledge serves as a

power base. Under these conditions, efficient sharing of knowledge is usually

impossible.

Consequently, the right organizational climate has an important part to play in

creating the right culture for efficient sharing of knowledge. As knowledge is created

invisibly in the human brain; only the right organizational climate can persuade people

to create, reveal, share, and use it. This is because the human element in knowledge, a

flexible, evolving structure is desirable, and motivational factors for creating, sharing,

and using knowledge are very important.

1.3 Problem Statement Studies by Royal Commission (1992, P. 3) and Latham (1994, P. 6) in different

countries have shown that the construction industry generally performs poorly, when

compared to other industries. In Malaysia, the construction industry’s products

generally are of low quality. This is manifested everyday from complaints made by

consumers through newspapers, television, radio and complaints to the authorities.

Example of complaints made through the newspaper are ‘Wrong building material, bad

design turning our homes into sweat boxes’ (The Sun, 5th May, 2000, P. 16) and ‘Dream

homes are a nightmare for buyers’ (The Star: Metro, 20th May, 2006, P. M4). These

issues are far too many in Malaysian built environment after the completion of a

construction project such as defects, failure, poor workmanship, catastrophic and design

inadequacies.

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As remarked by Elias Ismail (2000, P. 42), “the indication of low quality can be

gauged by the products that is ‘not as expected’, ‘not up to standards’, ‘not comfortable’,

‘not friendly’, and in addition to products that failed defects and so on.” All these low

quality construction products had led to a decreased quality of life, unfriendly and

uncomfortable environment. Consequently, quality is a vital issue to be addressed by all

construction professionals today. According to Mohd Peter Davis (2000, P. 24),

“quality within the limited context of construction is defined as conformance to

adequately developed requirements.” Therefore quality problem is a tough issue

because it is simply so subjective and it is a mind set issue from the perspective of the

consumer.

Upon realizing the importance of quality within the construction industry, Chief

Executive Officer from Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (1995)

commented that, “…one way to develop and upgrade the industry is from the aspect of

upgrading or improving its product. The product refers to the quality of services it

provides. There is no doubt that quality in any construction relies on all parties involve

like the clients, developers, designers, consultants and builder. In assuring quality, the

prominent success factor is the performance of the builders himself through the ability of

his site managers, site supervisors and workers in translating and executing project

information and drawings” (Dato Prof Hj. Abdul Rahman bin Abdullah, 1995, P. 7).

To accomplish quality improvement in the construction project, the construction

organizations need to make improvement for their knowledge assets. Construction

knowledge should be discovered, organized and shared among construction players to

avoid potential knowledge or information from being deprived. According to Sarajul

Fikri bin Mohamed (2002, P. 47) construction knowledge is thus both explicit

(engineering principles etc.) and implicit (in one’s knowledge of organization, or

location). In the construction industry, extensive knowledge is gained in the course of

the project management. This is because construction of a project involves thousands of

details and complex interrelationship among owners, architects, engineers, general

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contractors, specialist contractors, manufacturers, materials dealers, equipment

distributors, government bodies and agencies, employees and others.

Therefore, construction organizations demonstrate extremely high levels of

knowledge as a result of the complexity of construction tasks that requires many experts

in different fields. However, when an expert leaves or retires; his or her accumulated

knowledge through years of experience is also gone or stored as various documents that

are unorganized and hard to find. This knowledge is extremely valuable, because it is

not available to the rest of the marketplace for the time being and therefore represents a

major factor for setting an organization apart from the competition. Knowledge

management is therefore critical to the construction industry (KPMG, 2000, P. 36).

According to Faridah Yusuf and Mustafa Samad (2000, Paper 10) knowledge

management is considered as the ability of the organization to establish an environment,

which supports the evolution of data to knowledge through information while enabling

success. Consequently, knowledge management has the potential to release a significant

amount of productive potential, for example: the historical reports of construction

projects include a rich data context of buried details which provide knowledge that

brings competence and skills to individuals in the organization and thus to the

construction industry as a whole. Therefore, construction knowledge management

involves establishing an environment conducive to more effective and efficient

knowledge creation, application and sharing between parties and individuals which in

turn help solve construction problem and thus improve performance.

The industry is also large and complex, the many different players in the industry

does not share a common education base, as a result, cognitive frameworks are not

always easily shared. However, when information is shared in a group setting, new

ideas are generated. Besides that, knowledge sharing makes employees better informed

for future decisions and actions. Furthermore, the project nature of the industry with a

frequently reconfigured set of supply chain partners, non-repetitive nature of work,

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pressure to complete and lack of incentive to appraise performance, means that

information flow is often restricted. Subsequently, the ability to harness and effectively

deploy the knowledge held by one’s employee is crucial objective for many businesses

especially in the construction industry.

Kamara et al. (2000, P. 258) stated that knowledge needs to be managed at

different, interrelated levels in the construction organization including (i) management

of knowledge within projects – across different stages of a project and (ii) management

of knowledge in individual firms (e.g. consultants, contractors etc.) in the construction

industry to enhance their capability to adequately respond to client requirements.

However, knowledge in the organization is by no means always easily captured or

effectively shared amongst industry players. Kululanga and McCaffer (2001, P. 23)

stated that knowledge management is even more problematic in the construction

industry, where even the management of existing knowledge is under-chartered territory.

Despite the interest and effort that have been invested by many leading

construction companies into knowledge management; these efforts however seldom

bring the expected improvements in business processes. Many practitioners and

researchers have acknowledged the limitations of current approaches to knowledge

management relating to and arising from projects involving several companies in the

construction domain (Rezgui, 1998, P. 34 and Vakola, 1999, P. 47). These limitations

include:

a) Much construction knowledge, of necessity, resides in the minds of the

individuals working within the construction domain,

b) The intent behind decisions is often not recorded or documented. It requires

complex processes to track and record the thousands of ad hoc messages, phone

calls, memos, and conversations that comprise much project-related information,

9

c) People responsible for collecting and archiving project data may not necessarily

understand the specific needs of actors who will use it, such as the actors

involved in the maintenance of the building(s),

d) The data are usually not managed while they are created but instead are captured

and archived at the end of the construction stage. People who have knowledge

about the project are likely to have left for another project by this time - their

input is not captured,

e) Lessons learned are not organized well and buried in details. It is difficult to

compile and disseminate useful knowledge to other projects, and

f) Many companies maintain historical reports of their projects. Since people

always move from one company to another, it is difficult to reach the original

report authors who understand the hidden meaning of historical project data.

These historical data should include a rich representation of data context, so that

they can be used with minimum (or no) consultation.

The above limitations all impede sharing of knowledge among individuals and

organizations within the construction sector. Specific knowledge in the construction

industry is difficult to collect and transfer. It is generally recognized that there is much

‘knowledge wastage’ and difficult in accessing important information. However, it is

this knowledge that brings competence and skills to the individuals in the construction

industry and thus to the organization as a whole.

Knowledge is by no mean always easily captured or effectively shared among

industry players in the construction industries. It is therefore important for individuals

with the relevant knowledge to share information among themselves. This is because

every problem in the construction industry needs to be solved in a way that utilized other

people’s knowledge to develop different people’s capacity to handle problems. The

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construction industry does not base on an individual’s ability to do better job; everyone

in the organization is expected not only to develop appropriate technical expertise, but

also analytical, business, human and conceptual skills.

As construction industries strive to improve the quality of products it provides,

they need to meet the challenges of utilizing the knowledge and information of their

human experience and expertise of production to sustain competitive advantage. As part

of this process, organizations need to enable their staff to capitalize on their individual

knowledge and information with others. To succeed in the development of knowledge

sharing culture, organizations and individuals need to both accept and adapt to an

environment where intangibles assets are the key driver in the organization. They need

to develop new processes, cultures and behaviours that encourage the creation of new

knowledge, the sharing of existing experience and know-how and the efficient

utilization of those assets for the benefit of all (Oxbrow, 2000, P. 20).

To materialize the development of knowledge sharing culture within the

construction industry, it will be helpful to clarify the linkage between the organization

culture, practices and individuals’ behaviours in the construction industry. The linkage

is that organization culture bearing certain characteristics that influences work practices,

and work practices in turn influence employees’ behaviours (De Long and Davenport,

1997, P. www.bus.utexas.edu/kman/pubs.htm). This means that right organization

characteristics along with right work practices conducive to knowledge sharing

influence employees’ behaviour.

Obviously, the issue of intention to knowledge management is as important as

having positive attitudes and commitment towards effective knowledge sharing culture.

Consequently, this research attempts to identify the determinants that promote the

development of knowledge sharing culture among organizations in the construction

sector. In order to respond to the research question, the identified determinants that

promote the development of knowledge sharing culture are listed in each subsequent

http://www.bus.utexas.edu/

11

section in chapter two; in the form of research propositions for data analysis in chapter

four.

Therefore, the goal of the present study is to contribute to the understanding of

the factors determining the development of organization’s knowledge sharing culture by

exploring the practices for factors that influence employees' active participation in these

communities. Having observed the determinants, the retention of workers with valuable

knowledge may be just a key element of an organization’s knowledge management

strategy as its attempts to induce its workers to share their knowledge.

1.4 Research Objectives The objectives of this study are as below:

i. To identify the practices for factors that promote the development of knowledge

sharing culture.

ii. To identify the preferred practices for each factor that promotes the development

of knowledge sharing culture.

iii. To investigate the relationship between the factors and the development of

knowledge sharing culture.

iv. To investigate the relationship between the practices and the development of


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1.5 Research Methodology

This section provides a brief outline of the research methodology that had been

adopted to guide this study. Extensive literature review had been conducted to provide a

comprehensive background study. The review mainly examined the overall definition of

knowledge, types of knowledge, knowledge management, knowledge sharing culture,

construction industry issues, and related issues on the lack of knowledge sharing culture

in the construction industry. Furthermore, the review highlighted the factors and

practices that promote the development of knowledge sharing culture.

The researcher employed a case study approach with six units of study and

questionnaire survey in this investigation. Interviews were carried out with construction

professionals from the case studies to verify the factors and practices for factors that

promote the development of knowledge sharing culture. Questionnaire survey was

conducted to validate the factors and the practices for factors that promote the

development of knowledge sharing culture from the knowledge employees’ point of

view. Data collected from the interview and questionnaire survey were analysed using

qualitative analysis, frequency analysis and one-sample t test. The output of the analysis

reflected the factors and practices for each factor that promote the development of


1.6 Scope and Limitations

The area of research focused on the construction firms in Sibu, Sarawak. The

reasons for the particular mode of study in Sibu construction industry can be best

explained as the result of its size, diversity of operations in wide geographical areas,

organization of production process, price determination procedures, number of specialist

firms required and various sources of equipment and material or components needed for

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production. Besides that the increasing population and influx of workers to this highly

commercialized town has increased housing development in the urban areas (Sarawak

Property Bulletin, 2004, P.2). As a result, there are many leading construction firms

which generate employment and valuable spin-off industries to the state's economic

growth.

Under the 8th Malaysia Plan (2001-2005), RM570 million has been allocated to

Sibu for its development. The majority are spent on new infrastructure development

including roads and bridges and the upgrading of existing facilities. This is to achieve

Sibu’s vision of becoming a Garden City by the River (Sarawak Property Bulletin, 2004,

P. 2) has exert the dire need for quality infrastructure to remote part of Sibu. To ensure

quality infrastructure development, the practice of knowledge sharing culture among the

relevant parties in the construction industry is critical to foster continuous education

from the knowledge and experience gain from past projects.

Current research is generally targeting those big organisations that are acting as

main contractors. This study converged on the perception from two management levels

of a particular construction organization which include tactical and operational level.

However, it is limited to the investigation of organization behaviour and practice over

employee behaviour in the development of organization knowledge sharing culture.

1.7 Research Justification

Knowledge sharing is critical to the construction organizations due to its

temporary nature of and short-term relationships between project teams; the transfer of

knowledge from one project to the next and from one firm to the other has been

extremely difficult. This knowledge is often tacit remained in individuals and

organizations and finally disappears once the project is closed out. The fragmented

nature of the construction environment is another cause that inhibits performance

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improvement. As a result the need to share knowledge in the construction industry is

often overlooked or not well managed. By enhancing the development of knowledge

sharing culture would help to solve this problem through the distribution of such

intelligence among the relevant parties within the construction industry.

The turnover of the construction industry represents about 10 per cent of the

GDP of most countries (Olomolaiye et al., 1998, P. 26). The perception remains that

construction knowledge sharing culture is a peripheral function which has a tenuous

relationship with business success. This is because in a world of interactive

technologies with new networked business models required a radical approach towards

effective sharing of knowledge by changing people’s attitudes toward work and

authority. Consequently, efficient knowledge sharing practice in this sector shall benefit

in several ways including minimizing wastes and rework, improved business

performance and productivity.

Furthermore, effective management of knowledge can be achieved within the

construction industry through attaining relevant expertise, skills and excellence from

different fields. At the outset, it strives to facilitate formal and informal learning

through organization environment among construction people. The effect shall produce

more informed, knowledgeable workforce who achieved mastery in their business and

thus the performance of the organization shall be improved. As a conclusion, a radical

way in which construction knowledge is transferred between individuals in the industry

is expected to occur.

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1.8 Structure of Chapter Outline

This dissertation is divided into 5 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 presents the background of study which includes problem statements, research

objectives, research methodology, scope and limitations and research justification.

Chapter 2 begins with the discussion on knowledge and knowledge management. Then,

the definition of knowledge sharing culture, factors and practices that promote the

development of knowledge sharing culture are addressed.

Chapter 3 explains the research design which included the research procedures; survey

and data analysis methodologies.

Chapter 4 contains data analysis, results and discussion of this study. The intention is to

provide a context in which the objectives of this study are accomplished.

Chapter 5 consists of the conclusions and recommendations for further research which

includes generalizing the findings and research limitations.

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LISA LOW SEOW WEI